When troubleshooting complex issues, it is sometimes necessary for our customer service team to obtain additional information about the network requests that are generated in your browser while an issue occurs. A customer service team member may request that you record a HAR file, or a log of network requests, while that issue is occurring and then provide that to them for further analysis.
Below are some instructions about how you can easily generate a HAR file using different browsers.
To generate the HAR file for Chrome
- Open Google Chrome and go to the page where the issue is occurring.
- Look for the Vertical ellipsis button (
) and select More Tools > Developer Tools.
- From the panel opened, select the Network tab.
- Look for a round Record button (
) in the upper left corner of the tab, and make sure it is red. If it is grey, click it once to start recording.
- Check the box Preserve log.
- Click the Clear button (
) to clear out any existing logs from the Network tab.
- Reproduce the issue that you were experiencing before, while the network requests are being recorded.
- Once you have reproduced the issue, right-click anywhere on the grid of network requests, select Save as HAR with Content, and save the file to your computer.
- Upload your HAR file to your ticket or attach it to your email so that our Support team can analyze it.
The instructions are the same for a MAC computer or a Windows computer. Here is a brief animation showing this process:
To generate the HAR file for Firefox
- Open Firefox and go to the page where you are experiencing trouble.
- Select the Firefox menu (three horizontal parallel lines) at the top-right of your browser window, then select Web Developer > Network.
- The Developer Network Tools opens as a docked panel at the side or bottom of Firefox. Click the Network tab.
- The recording autostarts when you start performing actions in the browser.
- Once you have reproduced the issue and you see that all of the actions have been generated in the Developer Network Panel (should just take a few seconds), right-click anywhere under the File column, and click on Save all as Har.
- Save the HAR file somewhere convenient.
- Upload your HAR file to your ticket or attach it to your email so that we may analyze it.
The instructions are the same for a MAC computer or a Windows computer.
To generate the HAR file for Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and go to the page where the issue is occurring.
- Press F12 on your keyboard (or click the gear icon > F12 Developer Tools)
- Click the Network tab.
- Reproduce the issue that you were experiencing before, while the network requests are being recorded.
- Once done click the Save button.
- Give the trace a filename and click the Save button which will save it as a .har file or .xml file.
- Upload your HAR file to your ticket or attach it to your email so that we may analyze it.
The instructions are the same for a MAC computer or a Windows computer.
To generate the HAR file for Safari
Before generating the HAR file, make sure you can see the Develop menu in Safari. If it is not there, follow the instructions under Use the developer tools in the Develop menu in Safari on Mac.
- Open the Develop menu and select Show Web Inspector.
- Click the Network tab and complete the activity that is causing issues.
- Click the Export icon on the far right of the network tab and save the HAR file.
- Send us the file via your support ticket.
To generate the HAR file for Edge
Edge natively produces HAR files. For more instructions, see the instructions from the Microsoft website.
- Open the Network tool in F12 developer tools.
- Reproduce the issue.
- Export captured traffic as a HAR (CTRL + S).
13 Comments
UPDATE:
The export as HAR is built-in since Firefox 41, you do not need to install Firebug and the NetExport extension.
Just show the network profiler toolbar through Menu > Developer > Network. Then reload the page. Right-click anywhere in the table and select the entry called Save all as HAR, select the destination file. You are done.
Firefox users need to take some additional action prior to capturing a HAR:
•Install the Firefox extension Firebug.
•Install the Firebug extension NetExport. ...
•Open the Firebug console using one of these methods: ...
•Navigate to the Net tab in Firebug console.
•Refresh the page to start capturing the traffic between the browser to the server.
While we recommend Chrome for this sometimes internal policy dictates the use of particular browsers. We will continue to try and update documentation to reflect all supported browsers.
where is the HAR file located. Everyone says send HAR File, but after your step of "right click save as HAR", I am lost trying to find it....
@James - I believe by default it will save to your "Downloads" folder, but you can set your downloads location in your Chrome settings (Chrome > Preferences > Advanced Settings > Downloads.)
Hello Edward,
He experiences the issue when he tries to type in update text box. ( it wont let him )
I have asked him to generate the HAR file
When generating my HAR file as instructed, the file size is 37.8 mb which exceeds the 20 mb limit imposed by ZD. How should we upload these larger files for review?
Hi Darryl,
You can compress HAR files. When I tried to compress a 22.4MB HAR file the zip file became 13.2MB.
For Google Chrome, you must press the download icon in the settings menu bar to download the .har file
Thanks for sharing Clara!
Hello, Can you provide screenshots from a PC and not just a MAC OS?
Hey Joshua,
The instructions should be fairly similar and will differ based on the browser you're using. I was able to track down an external article that goes over capturing a HAR file using different browsers that may also help: How to Generate Network Captures for Troubleshooting
Is there a particular step you're getting stuck on while using Windows?
Let me know!
It's less my trouble and more when I try and show the article to people who are less tech-savvy when directing them to do these instructions since they are geared for a Mac Os and some of the steps while analogous to what I would do on a PC, it would definitely lend some clarity to those users who are not on a Mac. Just to cite some sources: According to the latest numbers from NetMarketShare, the Mac now accounts for 9.57 percent of all PCs currently in use. Windows is of course still number one, with 88.77 percent of all usage. Seems it would be nice to have a run-through on Chrome on a PC with the different locations and names and clicks they would need to do. From a ZDNet article: By the United States' government's count, Chrome is the most popular web browser followed by Internet Explorer and then Safari.
I feel this makes a good case to maybe have a run-through on a PC with Chrome if you are wanting to reach beyond a <10% used OS. I use a Mac at home and a PC at work, so I am familiar with both, but this is more about getting the best reach for the largest amount of customers, correct?
Hey Joshua,
Thanks for replying back and providing additional context :)
I agree that it would also be good to have a Windows run-through of these steps. I'm going to follow-up with our documentation team to see if we can get this article updated.
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us!
You should be able to trace it from there.
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